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Education for Sustainable Development in the curriculum

UWE Bristol is working to ensure that all programmes of study
provide opportunities for students to explore the meaning of sustainable development in the context of
their discipline. For some programmes, like Environmental Science or
Geography, nearly everything students study is concerned with
sustainable development. For others, the engagement with
sustainable issues will be less direct, and often linked to
professional practice or employability elements of the programme.
In all cases, we are increasing and enhancing the opportunities
available to students through the curricula for engagement with the
Sustainable Development Goals (see Policies, Plans and Targets for an overview of
our Sustainable Development Goals mapping work).

UWE Bristol has developed modules and programmes which
explicitly focus on sustainable development. The following case
studies are indicative of the breadth and variety of UWE Bristol’s
Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) provision. Our MSc Sustainable
Development in Practice is an interdisciplinary programme which
enables staff and students to work together on
sustainability-related teaching and learning. Students within the
Bristol Business School on programmes BA Economics,
Business
and Management, Business Management with Economics, Accounting
and Finance, Business and Management with Accounting and
Finance share a second year module titled Good Business, Bad
Business and Sustainability. Assessed learning outcomes for this
module include the ability of students to demonstrate 'a developed
understanding of the economic value of ecosystem services and
environmental sustainability' and be able to 'evaluate actions and
performance of an organisation in relation to corporate social
responsibility, business ethics and sustainability'.

Our Green City MOOC

During 2015, UWE Bristol developed a massive open online course
(MOOC) called
Our Green City. This course was developed by academic from
across UWE Bristol, in collaboration with organisations and
students. Participants of the course included UWE Bristol staff and
students as well as individuals from across the world. Online
collaborative communication tools enabled participants to share
their learning and experience with other participants. The course
boasted a global reach, with some 2000 participants registered, it
affected citizens from all over the world. Impact of the course can
be inferred from the commitments participants made to changing
their behaviour after undertaking the course. Actions included
people promising to “grow my own salad vegetables and share seeds
and produce with my neighbours”, “work on making a septic system
that could create fertiliser for surrounding gardens, fields ",
"make every effort to make less visits to the supermarket and more
to the local retailers", "introduce plants and wild plants to my
own front garden, and share ideas with neighbours", "use green
energy and look for those non-profit companies that promote their
green energy" and to “Cycle more it is free it is healthy”!

Department of Architecture and the Built Environment

Students within the department of Architecture and the Built
Environment undertake a shared interdisciplinary module in
level 3, titled Collaborative Practice. These students are
registered on Real Estate, Quantity Surveying, Property Investment
and Management, Interior Architecture, Architecture, Architecture
and Planning, Architectural Technology and Design, Architecture and
Environmental Engineering, Construction Management, and Building
Surveying courses. This module enables these students to represent
their discipline in tackling real world built environment
challenges and to gain an appreciation for the professions with
which they will need to work after graduation. One of the learning
outcomes for the module is that students will be able to reconcile
the external constraints that impact on the environment and the
need to provide sustainable, healthy and low carbon lifestyles and
buildings.

These are just examples of ways in which sustainability infuses
our curriculum across all of our disciplines. Work is also being
done to consider our pedagogic approach to ESD.
For example, within the Bristol Business School at UWE Bristol,
students have been able to experience an alternative pedagogic
method of post-graduate (management) education: a field trip, which
combines student-led, inquiry-based learning approach with a
critical collaborative reflection on the theme of ‘environmental
degradation as a business opportunity in a contemporary global
context’. The Bristol MBA
programme has an established tradition of integrating into its
curriculum a non-compulsory study-trip based activity where
students are given the opportunity to engage with “live cases”
related to various aspects of ecological crisis, globalisation and
development. Research into the effectiveness of this approach is
ongoing and includes consideration of cohort diversity and the
multidisciplinary background of the academic team.